Stop putting meat in the things I can eat

I am SUPER annoyed at this new trend of putting meat or meat by-products in what used to be meat-free food stuff. You know, like desserts (this, this and even on MasterChef right now, he put bacon in the pie crust).

I was just chatting with a friend about possible restaurant choices for a Girls’ Night Out on Saturday (which for me is just a regular Saturday night out, but the marrieds need a reason to be out) and I checked the menu for one of them (I won’t link the place, just to be fair, since they’re not the only place out there that has a menu geared towards carnivores only).

And, I am sure the food is delish. I have no doubt it’s yummy and awesome and all that. BUT WHY IS THERE DUCK FAT AND BACON IN THE FUCKING FRENCH FRIES?!?!?!?!!? WHHHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY? (And yes, I do hear you answering me: Because it’s AWESOME. I know. It’s my own fault that I choose not to eat animals anymore.)

Also, this whole idea that you can just throw vegetables on a plate and call it ‘dinner’ IS NOT TRUE. It’s actually really damn annoying. Just because I choose to be vegetarian does not mean that I want to graze like a cow. Especially if I’m drinking. Okra doesn’t soak up alcohol like bread and cheese does, you know?

There are plenty of times that I’ve been out and I literally cannot eat one thing on the menu. And that’s ok, I can usually make do with a drink and dessert. In fact, on a trip to Europe years ago, I literally lived on Kir Royales and desserts, because apparently in France, you can’t get anything without jambon in it. The first few days were fun and it was novel… by the end, I was craving something real (to be clear, I’d already given up beef/pork by that point).

I gave up all meat about 3 years ago because I just felt like I didn’t need it in my diet anymore – I came to the conclusion that I could get a diet I wanted with anything having died in order for me to eat. And once I had that thought in mind, I could no longer eat meat because all I saw on my dish, instead of what used to look soooo enticing and delicious, was a dead carcass. And once that stayed with me, I knew I wouldn’t eat it again. This isn’t to say that I haven’t left my options open — I’m not a militant vegetarian – sometimes I sniff my friend’s plates for that smell of well cooked chicken or steak. But I don’t miss it and I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything by not eating it.

And 0bviously, I don’t expect any restaurant to cater to my dietary needs. But I’m not the only one out there… vegetarianism is growing in popularity, so you would think that any restaurant would have at least ONE option on the menu that doesn’t consist of sides. Telling me I can have 3 choices (let’s say okra, collard greens and grits – we are in the south here) and not offering a protein or a carb AND THEN CHARGING ME $12 to $20 FOR THE LUXURY OF ORDERING IT REALLY PISSES ME OFF.

And, I KNOW it was cooked in lard. Fuck. I’m sure it is. But, I choose not to ask a lot of time – I go with the policy of “don’t ask, don’t tell” – if I don’t know that the kitchen used chicken or fish stock, I’m not going to go out of my way to find that out. But if I’m with people who ask, or the waitress mentions it, then I won’t order it. I’ve got loose morals all around, we can say 😉

But anyway, I long for the good old days, when you didn’t have to ask if the veggies were vegetarian, and you could assume the dessert didn’t have hidden meat by-products in it. When my friend A and I used to work together, we’d do a coffee break – sometimes we’d split a little pack of donuts as well. One day, I was reading the ingredients. You know what it had it in? BEEF.

WHY IS THERE BEEF IN MY DONUTS?!!!? WHY!?!?

And then there was the time on KLM where they passed out almonds for a snack – yeah! I ate one, thought it tasted rather “meaty” and then checked the ingredients. WHY IS THERE BEEF IN MY NUTS?!!?! WHY?!

These are questions that really should never have to be asked, and yet, here I am. Asking them. So, seriously – let’s just get back to the basics, can we? Keep the meat out of my veggies. And desserts. And nuts. And I’ll keep sniffing it when I need a hit. I think that’s more than a fair compromise.

2 Responses to "Stop putting meat in the things I can eat"

I’d say I sympathize with you here but as someone with really bad food allergies and not to normal foods (tomatoes, eggplant, apples and a few others) when you have special dietary restrictions it’s sorta your responsibility to figure out menus before you go out…I’ve taken to googling menus before I hit a bar or only sticking to specific places that will cook the way I need/want them to…it sucks but when you make a choice like vegetarianism/veganism you’re making a serious commitment

I should add it’s probably much easier for your type of diet in the area I live in because we have so many Kosher places and Vegetarian only restaurants that you could eat at a new one each week for a month if you wanted to eat out each day.